New daycare opens in town

Little Champs Daycare owner Renee Anderson (center) cuts the ribbon to officially open her new business in Port Henry.

Photo by Lohr McKinstry

PORT HENRY — Kiddies can now learn and romp at the new Little Champs Daycare in Port Henry.

Renee Anderson recently opened the daycare center at her home at 9 Meacham St. in Port Henry.

“I started because I needed quality, reliable and affordable daycare,” she said. “When I first came here three years ago, I traveled to Middlebury (Vt.) three days a week for daycare.”

She said she recently obtained all the required state licenses for the business.

“It just kind of happened,” she said. “I thought I’d start with afterschool care, but I got phone calls (for more), so I looked into registering a daycare.”

She now accepts children ages 1 to 12, and can be reached at 518 546-4079.

Her assistant director is Brittany Pope.

“We have a nice balance,” Anderson said. “She’s great with the kids.”

They use a program called Healthy Kids, Healthy Living at the daycare.

“We show them how to grow a garden,” she said. “I want to show the children how we get our food, how it grows and how good it can taste when we grow it.”

Each child at her daycare gets a full and healthy meal, she said.

Little Champs also promotes container-free care for children there, and uses the Freedom of Movement program. By not placing infants in containers such as swings, seats or saucers, they better develop motor skills for their hands and feet, including rolling over, sitting, and crawling.

Anderson is encouraging kids and their parents who use her daycare to join the Moriah Challenge and do the four local hikes that are part of the challenge. Information is available at the Moriah Chamber of Commerce office during business hours.

“If they do it, I’ll buy their patches,” Anderson said.”We foster a learning aspect to this, we’re not just a daycare. We want to be part of the community.”

The Chamber of Commerce sells patches for each of the hikes, such as Cheney Mountain and Crowfoot Pond.

Little Champs is holding a rummage sale Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Memorial Day weekend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The funds raised go toward their Healthy Kids, Healthy Living Campaign.